(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/22/2022) The campaign account balance for the Democratic governor sits at $14.7 million with 100 days left before the start of the general election.
The five Republican candidates combined have a total of $5.1 million in their campaign coffers.
The Gretchen Whitmer for Governor campaign announced Friday nearly $9.5 million was raised between Jan. 1 and July 17, with a total for the cycle at $29.2 million.
Maeve Coyle, communications director for Whitmer’s campaign, said nearly 94% of the campaign’s donations were $200 and under and from more than 43,000 people in the state.
“Our campaign is proud to have the support of Michiganders in every single county as Gov. Whitmer keeps working with anyone to deliver on kitchen-table issues that matter most,” Coyle said.
The incumbent governor’s campaign has spent nearly $4.6 million, with a $530,866 television ad purchased July 6, along with a $203,940 digital advertising buy, which included streaming services, Facebook and YouTube. Previous digital purchases added up to $537,285. As of July 21, Whitmer had spent $2.68 million on TV.
The June payroll for the campaign had 41 people working for the campaign.
“Just over 100 days away from the election, our campaign is prepared to fight back against millions of dollars in misleading attacks from special interest groups as we organize and talk to Michiganders in every part of this state about Governor Whitmer's record of getting things done for Michigan families,” Coyle said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Rinke topped the Republican slate by gathering nearly $422,884 in donations since Jan. 1 from around 700 individuals. With the $10 million of his own money he put in, Rinke has raised $10.4 million for his campaign to date. He had 16 people donate $7,150 each to his campaign and he held 11 fundraisers.
The businessman spent $5.7 million this year and $6.19 million total.
The campaign has spent more than $5 million on TV advertising and nearly $180,000 on digital consulting. He also spent nearly $100,000 to produce several television advertisements.
The campaign has $4,233,977 on hand.
Republican Tudor Dixon raised nearly $1.2 million in the same time period. She banked the help of the DeVos family and harvested several shiny endorsements. After a slow start she has pulled up $1,678,712 overall, with $15,160 of non-monetary donations.
Former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, her husband Dick DeVos Jr., eight other DeVos family members, and five Van Andel family members have personally donated $7,150 to her campaign. The DeVos and Van Andel family founded Amway in Grand Rapids. In all, 65 people donated $7,150 to her campaign, with most being from the surrounding Grand Rapids area.
The Dixon campaign spent $731,306 this quarter, with overall expenses hitting $1,140,812. The campaign spent $22,189 in April at Mar-A-Lago, the resort owned by Donald Trump, on facility rental and catering. Much of the campaign’s expenses have revolved around consultants, and $167,500 was spent on petition management and signatures.
Dixon was also in Mar-A-Lago in February for a 100-person fundraiser that netted $58,800. A series of Grand Rapids-area fundraisers in June and July netted nearly $150,000.
She has $64,685 owed by the campaign to consulting companies, and has $537,900 on hand.
Republican Garrett Soldano raised $736,401 so far in 2022, with a total of $2,099,744 for the election. The campaign has also accepted $1,500 from contributions that are not money. He is also set to receive $246,529 in state matching funds that he didn't receive and didn't list on the July 17 report.
The Soldano campaign spent $719,174 this period and $1,776,449 overall. He has spent $61,000 on digital consulting and $88,140 to hire a media advertising company responsible for digital, television and radio advertisement.
Along with the digital buys, Soldano’s campaign has spent $29,500 on polling and $142,467 on campaign and compliance consulting.
The campaign owes $25,000 and has a total of $332,096 on hand.
Donna Brandenburg, who recently joined the U.S. Taxpayers ticket, raised $398,040 from Jan. 1 to July 17 and has raised $439,406 overall, $425,000 of which came from her own pocket.
A total of eight people have donated more than $200 to the campaign, with the largest single donation at $1,041.
The Brandenburg campaign has spent $395,692 and $429,539 overall.
Her campaign is noted to have paid $157,503 to First Choice Contracting LLC, the paid-circulation company appearing on many of the dropped petition signatures being identified as fraudulent.
She owes $435,000 over a series of 11 loans and has $9,824 on hand.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley has raised $306,674 overall in contributions. This cycle he raised $208,417, which was less than what Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) raised in the same period.
Kelley’s campaign has held three fundraisers: One in Livonia, which raised $11,405 with 50 people; one in Rockford, which raised $2,314 with 40 people; and one in Washington Twp., which raised $9,095 with 20 people.
He has spent $202,876 this quarter and $268.873 overall.
Kelley’s campaign has spent more than $27,000 on broadcast advertisements and more than $36,000 on billboards. The campaign has spent more than $13,000 on consultants and $15,000 on contractors.
The campaign has $37,801 on hand, but no debt or personal funding.
Michael Markey raised $175,917 before being bounced from the ballot for a petition full of fraudulent signatures.
Markey was the largest donor to his own campaign with just over $300,000 contributed of his own money.
His campaign spent $172,673, with the majority coming from consulting and marketing. He had spent nearly $1,000 on digital advertising with Google.
Rev. Ralph Rebandt raised $162,705 this quarter and $396,057 overall. He had $18,654 in-kind contributions this period with a total of $38,274 for the election so far.
Rebandt claimed more than $15,000 of the in-kind donations from himself, for milage, signs and marketing.
The retired pastor’s campaign has spent $164,326 this quarter and $390,504 overall. He has spent $20,000 on digital marketing, $10,975 with a billboard marketing company and another $23,088 with a Tennessee-based public relations company.
There have been several $500 contributions made from the campaign to the Michigan Republican Party for marketing and $18,000 for a financial consultant.
His campaign owes $95,708 and has $5,554 on hand. Most of the debt is from service fees, marketing and supplies, but $39,500 is from loans.
His campaign has consistently polled at the bottom of the pack.
Capt. Michael Brown, who dropped out after not having enough signatures because of fraudulent circulators, had raised $36,166 for the quarter and $181,849 overall.
The campaign had spent $140,453 for the period and $157,913 overall. The campaign spent a total of $63,410 to First Choice Contracting LLC, the company implicated with the fraudulent circulators.
The committee owed $119,955 for the period for two loans that were taken out in 2021.
The campaign ended with $23,936 on hand.
The campaign finance report submitted by the James Craig campaign seems to have many problems with the numbers, and no one from the campaign was reachable or responded to questions from MIRS by deadline.
As of 8 p.m. Friday, a campaign finance report had not been uploaded to the Secretary of State website for Perry Johnson.
